


from the rooftops

by louvregood



Series: from the rooftops [2]
Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Aphrodite Cabin - Freeform, Best Friends, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Canon Universe, F/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Post-The Burning Maze (Trials of Apollo), except Jason's death, i literally just ignore the TOA plot don't mind me, they break a lot of the rules
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-01-13 11:32:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18468091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louvregood/pseuds/louvregood
Summary: After what happened, Piper didn’t think she’d ever have a reason to go back to Cabin One.Now she spends every Wednesday night trying to not to break her neck scaling the side of it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> general warning - a mild anxiety attack occurs in this chapter

Piper is going to be late.

 

Typically, it isn’t _this_ difficult to get all of her siblings into bed at the end of the day. She knows children of Aphrodite may seem like the type to stay up late gossiping or watching chick-flicks, and yes, while most of her siblings were huge fans of camp hearsay and Rachel McAdams, they were also huge fans a full night’s rest. And with a well thought out routine and Mitchell’s help, things went accordingly every night.

 

Tonight, however, for whatever reason, is a complete disaster.

 

It starts off smoothly, like any other night. All of the Aphrodite children return from the campfire around 10 pm, voices hoarse and smelling like smoke. Piper takes headcount of all her siblings and sends the boys off to the washroom first, while the girls wait for their turn (along with Esme, who is non-binary but prefers to be grouped with the girls).

 

Shortly after this, the train derails from its tracks.

 

“Piper!”

 

Piper glances up, having been distracted with fishtailing the hair of their ten year old sister, Linda. She meets eyes with Jessica, who’s wearing the typical irritated expression.

 

“Oh, are the boys out of the bathroom? Girls can go.”

 

“We can’t actually. Dilan's been doing his skincare routine in the washroom for _fifteen minutes_ ,” Jess complains, impatiently tapping her right foot. “He won’t get out. I have to _pee_.”

 

“Uh.“ Piper’s eyebrows furrow in concentration as she tries not to lose grip on a section of hair. Linda practically begged Piper to braid her hair, claiming she was the best of all her siblings at braiding. Piper feels like she has to live up to Linda’s expectation. “Did you tell him his ten minutes are up?”

 

Jessica rolls her eyes, bored with the conservation. “Duh. He’s still in there.”

 

Everyone was allowed only ten minutes for their skincare routine on weeknights. When you have 16 teenagers, a majority of whom were very high maintenance, fighting over a washroom that only had two sinks, two toilets, and two showers, time limits were an absolute must.

 

Most cabins didn’t even have their own washrooms, other campers having to use the communal toilets and showers Camp Half-Blood provided, so the Aphrodite cabin having their own private restroom was definitely a luxury. It was also a pain in Piper’s ass.

 

Piper sighs. “Mitchell,” she calls out to her brother/co-counselor, “can you get Dilan out of the bathroom, please?”

 

Mitchell nods, tossing his bottle of moisturizer aside and heading for the bathroom in the back of the cabin.

 

“My doctor said I’m not supposed to hold in a full bladder,” Jess rants to her siblings. “I could get another UTI.”

 

Drew laughs at Jess, sending a suggestive look through the reflection of her vanity mirror. “Yeah, that’s _definitely_ why you got the first UTI.”

 

The entire cabin bursts into giggles. Jess, now slightly red, raises a perfectly manicured middle finger in Drew’s direction.

 

Linda frowns, not understanding the joke. “What’s a UTI?”

 

“Uh,” says Piper awkwardly. “Don’t worry about it Linda. There, your braid’s all done.”

 

She secures the end of the fishtail braid with a hair tie, resting it delicately against the small girls back.

 

“Yay!” Linda cheers, turning around and hugging Piper, the ten year old especially grateful. “Now my hair will be curly tomorrow.”

 

Mitchell soon comes back from the bathroom with Dilan, who insists he needed to add extra steps into his routine tonight because the state his pores were in was truly devastating.

 

“Whatever, Dilan,” says Friya, climbing down from her bunk and grabbing her bathroom caddy. She shoots him an irritated glare, her sharp cat-eye liner adding to the menace. “I’m going to end up in bed ten minutes later than usual now, which is going to completely throw off my circadian rhythm. If I don’t get enough REM tonight, I will kill you in the morning.”

 

Dilan rolls his eyes, scoffing. “Ten minutes isn’t going to throw off your circadian rhythm.”

 

Maybe not, but it definitely throws off the Aphrodite-Cabin-nighttime-routine-rhythm. Ten minutes behind schedule somehow becomes _twenty_ minutes behind schedule, which means Piper was going to be _twenty_ minutes late.

 

She tries to mask how agitated she is, because besides Mitchell, her siblings don’t know she leaves the cabin on Wednesday nights after they’ve gone to bed. But Piper’s never really been great at hiding her emotions.

 

“Eli, put the Switch away!” Piper chastises her younger brother, the boy fully immersed in whatever video game he was playing. “We talked about cutting down screen time before bed.”

 

“Can I finish this last match? I’m like, _this_ close to unlocking Cloud.”

 

“I don’t even know what that means,” says Piper. “And no, we’re behind schedule as it is.”

 

She also has to deal with another bathroom straggler—her sister Peyton, whose hair has fallen victim to unexpected rain today and was now struggling to detangle it.

 

“Shrinkage is a blessing and a curse,” says Peyton, wincing as she combs through a section of hair.

 

Piper offers to help the girl, impatient to get everyone in bed, but Peyton absolutely refuses.

 

“No offense, but I don’t let anyone besides my auntie and my stylist touch my hair.”

 

And when she finally, _finally_ has everyone in bed for the night—pajamas, bonnets, and eye masks on, the lights turned off, and a still silence settling in the cabin—Piper slowly slips out of bed, tugs on her shoes, and ever-so-quietly creeps out of the cabin.

 

-

 

“It’s cute that she thinks we don’t know.”

 

A few giggles and titters from those that were awake.

 

“Did you see how antsy she was to leave? We did good.”

 

“What if Valdez thinks she bailed and left?”

 

“Oh please. Leo would stay out there all night for her, we _all_ know that.”

 

-

 

Piper hates climbing the back wall of Cabin One. It’s the tallest of all the cabins—climbing it caused a lot of exertion, and she isn’t exactly as in shape as she used to be. It’s definitely helped improve her upper body strength this summer; she recently achieved a new best on the lava wall. So there’s that.

 

After what happened, Piper didn’t think she’d ever have a reason to go back to Cabin One. For the first couple of weeks, just the sight of the Zeus Cabin was. . . painful. And being the biggest and most imposing of all the cabins, it was hard to miss.

 

Now she spends every Wednesday night trying to not to break her neck scaling the side of it.

 

It became a recurring thing for Piper once summer began; leaving her cabin after lights out and sneaking up onto this roof. Just to be alone. Being head counselor of the Aphrodite Cabin meant being around her siblings a majority of most days. She just needed time to herself. To think about things besides relationships and the gods and the new Fenty Beauty drop.

 

It felt peaceful, being up there. It wasn’t necessarily allowed (neither was sneaking out after curfew), but Piper didn’t care. She ditched her “troublemaker” reputation long ago, but she never forgot how to break the rules. And she managed to do it for two whole weeks, every night, without getting caught.

 

She couldn’t say she was surprised when Leo Valdez—the only person she ever knew to be better at breaking the rules than she is—noticed her one night walking back from Bunker 9. She definitely wasn’t surprised when he climbed up to join her without a second thought.

 

_“Up here again?”_

 

It wasn’t their first time together up on the roof of Cabin One. Six months before they sat up there, grieving and miserable. Earlier that day they had told the camp about Jason’s death. Apollo had taken his coffin back to New Rome but Camp Half-Blood still burned him a shroud. The rites were performed in front of Cabin One. Piper climbed to the top of Cabin One after the ceremony, Leo followed after her. They sat up there for hours. Piper cried so much. It rained on them. Leo brought up the one time they danced in the rain at the Wilderness School. They stayed up there the rest of the night.

 

_“I’m not crying again. I just. . .wanted to be alone.”_

 

_“You hate being alone.”_

 

Leo’s also the only person she ever knew to see right through her. She’s not sure how he does it.

 

So Leo joined her, like he did before, and they just talked. Which hadn’t been something they’d been able to do since camp started, with both of them stepping up in their position as Head Counselor. They spoke about everything; from camp gossip to sharing old folktales their parents used to tell them. And it was nothing like the spontaneous, impromptu adventures she and Leo used to share, yet all the same, it was like nothing had ever changed.

 

It became recurring for the both of them, sneaking up onto the roof of Cabin One past curfew to hangout. It dwindled from every night to every Wednesday night, else they’d never have time to sleep, but they always made the best of their one night a week.

 

Piper finds her way to the top of the Zeus Cabin, her breathing heavy. She immediately meets eyes with Leo, who’s wears a smug grin. He definitely heard her struggling to climb up here, the asshole.

 

“You know I hate you, right?”

 

He ignores her. “Was starting to think the harpies had you for dinner, McLean.”

 

Piper’s jaw drops in mock offense. “You think little of my stealth.”

 

“I’ve been waiting, for like, half an hour.” Nevertheless, he scooches over and makes room for her on the ceramic tiling, which gleams in the moonlight.

 

“I know, I know. Sorry. I had a hard time getting my cabin into bed.” She scoots in next to him, making herself as comfy as sitting on a rooftop could get. Which wasn’t very comfortable. Piper’s tailbone passionately hated her on Thursday mornings.

 

“Ah,” says Leo as he nods in understanding, “The trials and tribulations of being a head counselor.”

 

“You’re a head counselor too.”

 

“Yeah, but Nyssa’s way better at all that authority stuff. She handles all the rules and routines, while I—“

 

“What? Help your siblings blow stuff up?” jokes Piper.

 

Leo frowns. “I was going to say help with projects and give advice,” he says, raising an eyebrow at Piper. She watches as his frown slowly transforms into a smirk. He knocks her knee with his. “But yeah, that too.”

 

“I knew it,” Piper laughs. “There’s always smoke coming from your cabin. You guys are worse than the Hermes kids.”

 

He scoffs. “Constructing the perfect smoke-bomb is a valuable skill that all demigods should have.”

 

“Oh my gods, do you remember when you smoke bombed Mr. Kirchoff’s class?”

 

Leo immediately cackles with laughter, a little too loudly. “To get us out of that unprecedented chemistry quiz? Hell yeah, I do! One of my finest moments.”

 

Piper shoves him in the shoulder as a way to get him to shut the hell up, but she’s barely containing her laughter herself. “It set off all the smoke alarms. The _fire department_ showed up.”

 

“Indeed they did. You did an amazing job at convincing everyone it was an accidental chemical reaction, by the way.”

 

Oh, back when Piper thought she was just _extremely_ well at lying and being persuasive. Charmspeak had definitely been her and Leo’s best friend whenever they got into trouble.

 

She snorts. “We were so bad, we really fit right in.”

 

Piper feels so at ease in this moment. Hanging out with Leo, reminiscing about Wilderness School and laughing at their endless inside jokes.

 

It’s nice. Having someone talk to and laugh with at the end of stressful days like this. When the responsibility of being head counselor began to weigh heavily on Piper’s shoulders. She could be the irresponsible teenager she was, who made stupid decisions with her best friend like sitting on top of a roof the entire night.

 

Wednesday nights were the only thing she looks forward too lately.

 

Hours later and they’re still up there. Piper is almost completely leaned into Leo’s side. It was chilly being so high up, and he radiates endless warmth. Hell if she wasn’t going to siphon off his heat.

 

They’ve stopped talking, a tranquil silence blanketing over them. They could probably do this for hours too. Just sit here without exchanging a word. It wouldn’t feel awkward or anything; they were comfortable with each other to just enjoy the company.

 

But Piper likes talking to Leo. She likes _listening_ to Leo. Whether it was a tangent about a project he’s working on or offhand mumble in Spanish or literally the worst pick-up line she’s ever heard—he always had something worth hearing.

 

She turns slightly to look at him. He’s staring out into the night, seemingly deep in thought. The dark curls from his hair look glossy in the moonlight. She reaches up to tug on one of them.

 

“Drachma for your thoughts?”

 

He’s brought out of his reverie, the brooding look on his face instantly replaced with a grin. “Just _one_ Drachma? For _my_ thoughts? Piper, in no way is that a fair sale.” He points at his temple. “This intellectual property is priceless.”

 

She shrugs, looking expectantly at him.

 

His grin falters. Piper could see through him sometimes, too.

 

He sighs. “I was thinking about Calypso.”

 

Piper feels like she should have expected that, but she didn’t. And for a moment she’s unsure how to respond. She knows Leo and Calypso broke up before summer started, but she never truly asked him about it, which, in retrospect, she should have. Leo was there for her... after everything. She should’ve been there for him too.

 

She places a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. I just. . . hope she’s happy, you know?”

 

She did know. She wanted nothing but happiness for Jason after they’d broken up. It’s something she’s been trying to teach the younger of her siblings—breakups didn’t have to be angsty and bitter like they were in cheesy romcoms. It’s okay to wish the best for someone you once loved.

 

“Drachma for _your_ thoughts?

 

Telling Leo what she’s _actually_ thinking about wouldn’t help him feel better. It wasn’t something she really wanted to talk about right now either. Not when she’s supposed to be having fun.

 

“Uh. The stars are really pretty tonight.”

 

Leo snorts. “ _That’s_ what you’re thinking about? How pretty the stars are?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Piper, _please_ stop hanging out with your siblings.”

 

She packs a lot into the punch she gives his right bicep.

 

“Ow! _Mierda_ , Pipes—“

 

“Sorry.”

 

“The smirk on your face says otherwise.”

 

“My sibling Esme loves astronomy and astrology. It’s what they would have wanted.”

 

“Is that the one who asked me what my star sign was at the campfire, then politely requested I stay far away from them for the rest of the month after telling them I was a Cancer?”

 

“That’s the one.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Look,” Piper says, leaning into Leo even closer. She points up at the celestial body above them. “Esme showed me this. If you connect that dipper right there, to those stars—“ she traces invisible lines into the sky “—it’s Chiron.”

 

Technically Sagittarius, but same thing.

 

He looks at her, unimpressed. “That looks _nothing_ like Chiron.”

 

“Dude, use your imagination.”

 

He squints hard at the constellation, his nose scrunching up with effort. Piper tries her best not to laugh at him.

 

“I’m not seeing it.”

 

Piper rolls her eyes. “Of course not—“

 

“Holy shit, Piper, _look_!”

 

Leo abruptly grabs her chin, forcing her gaze upwards. He points out a trail of light that streaks across the sky. Piper gasps.

 

“I may not be able to see the constellation, but I know a shooting star when I see one, baby!”

 

In less than a second the trail of light has vanished, the starry sky still and unmoving once more.

 

“Woah,” Piper says in disbelief, her eyes lingering on the night. She meets Leo’s gaze, and they both break out into giddy, childlike grins.

 

She’s not entirely sure why, but this moment has her heart stirring in her chest.

 

“That was so dope!” exclaims Leo. “Did you make a wish?”

 

Piper shakes her head no. She didn’t. It happened so fast, she can’t believe she even saw it. She hasn’t seen a shooting star since—

 

Her face falls, because suddenly something about this is hauntingly familiar.

 

“Ah, it’s whatever. I didn’t either, I don’t really believe in all that crap.”

 

All of this is hauntingly familiar. Being on the rooftop, talking and laughing with a close friend. The shooting star. The weird feeling inside of her chest.

 

“Maybe it wasn’t a shooting star. Maybe it was an alien ship. Wishing on that would be fucking weird, Pipes—Piper?”

 

The happiness Piper was feeling a moment ago quickly festered into something nauseating. She’s plagued with memories of shooting stars and first kisses and other things she’s tried so hard to forget. She feels physically sick.

 

Leo places a tentative hand on her shoulder. Piper’s aware that she’s begun to shake slightly. “Piper, are you okay?”

 

Leo’s saying something but with the blood rushing in her ears it just sounds like warbled nonsense. Everything is spinning too, and it’s worse being so high up and suddenly Piper hates being on this roof.

 

“Spinning,” she gasps, squeezing her eyes shut. It hardly stops the swimming in her head.

 

“Shit, do you have vertigo?”

 

In an act of desperation, Piper smothers her face into Leo’s chest. He’s thrown off guard and falters slightly, but manages to regain his balance. That was dangerous, Piper thinks. She could’ve thrown them both off of the roof. She can’t think straight—she just wants the spinning to stop.

 

“Pipes, if you barf on me I’m going to disown you as my friend.” Despite the threat, he rubs comfortingly at her back. Piper wants to laugh, she truly does.

 

She knows it’ll pass. They always do eventually. Deep breaths. Slow breaths. Use her diaphragm.

 

“Maybe we should get down?” Leo suggests.

 

Piper shakes her head where it’s pressed against the fabric of his shirt, the slight motion triggering another wave a nausea. She swallows. “I need a few.”

 

Leo doesn’t argue, just continues rubbing comfortably at her back. Piper uses the warm sensation as a distraction from her upsetting thoughts. She’s grateful that he’s here right now, even though he doesn’t exactly understand what’s wrong.

 

Piper knows she’ll be fine. It’s already starting to subside. Her anxiety recedes into the dark and dismal part of her mind that it likes to hide in, until the next time Piper will let her guard down and it pounces on her like a predator to it’s prey.

 

Piper is pissed all of a sudden. Nauseous and pissed off. She was having _fun_. She was being carefree and irresponsible and having the time of her life like kids her age were supposed to do. Yet she can’t do it without darkness lingering in her shadow, breathing down her neck every second of it.

 

She sniffs, trying to hold back frustrated tears. Leo’s shirt smells like sweat and grease. She pulls away from him, wiping at her eyes. “I can’t believe I just smothered my face in your dirty ass shirt.”

 

Leo blinks, the shift in her demeanor giving him whiplash. “I spent ten minutes comforting you and the first thing you do is _insult_ me? Next time you have vertigo I’m letting your dizzy ass stumble off this roof.”

 

Piper bursts out into laughter, leaning over and pressing a quick peck to Leo’s cheek as a thank you. She doesn’t correct him on the vertigo comment. Not tonight. “My face is _totally_ gonna breakout now. I need one of Peyton’s emergency facemasks.”

 

“Piper, again, _please_ stop hanging out with your siblings.”

 

It gets late. Time doesn't stop, not even for them. They come down eventually, they always do. The camp would have a field day if they woke up one morning and spotted the two of them on Cabin One’s roof.

 

Leo offers to walk Piper back to Cabin 10, and she doesn’t refuse. She pretends not to notice him eyeing her warily as they walk back to their cabins. He’s only concerned about her, and rightfully so. But Piper doesn’t want to talk about it.

 

They arrive at the foot her cabin’s porch steps. “This is my stop,” she whispers. Her siblings were heavy sleepers for the most part, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

 

“Until next Wednesday?”

 

Piper nods. They’ll see each other tomorrow most likely, but it’s not the same. They’ll be busy with their cabins, doing camp activities and taking care of their counselor responsibilities.

 

Piper watches as Leo walks the short distance across the green. Once he retreats inside his own cabin, Piper does the same. She tip-toes quietly inside and curls up in her bottom bunk, wanting to get the few hours of sleep she had left until the next day began.

 

(She doesn’t. Her ass hurts as expected. Behind her eyes distressing memories make a reappearance. Failed love she thought would last and boys she couldn’t save. Sleep does not fare her well at all.

 

But it’s alright. Nights like these were worth it.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper's learning new things about everyone, it seems.

Piper has gotten to know her godly half-siblings very well over the past two months.

 

For instance: Dilan absolutely hates it when his food touches, and eats each section of his plate one by one. Lacy’s favorite color is pink, Esme can speak four languages, and Eli spent the first half of his life growing up in the Philippines.

 

Of course, there’s some, besides their personalities, she knows less about than others; like Jeremiah and Drew, both of whom actively avoid speaking of their life outside of camp. Anita, a year-rounder, really enjoyed romance novels, and that’s about all Piper knew about her.

 

Piper was getting to know her brother Wesley very, _very_ slowly. He was the quietest of cabin 10—his answers to questions were usually answered with a plain yes or no, if not a simple gesture. For every thought he didn’t express out loud, he took the time to write down in brown leather journal that he took almost everywhere.

 

One thing Piper has come to learn about Wesley, bless his heart, is that he is _extremely_ accident prone.

 

“Back _again_ , Wesley?” Noelle says from the front desk of the infirmary. She sets down her pencil and sketchpad, looking at Piper and the boy in astonishment. “What is this, like the third time in two weeks?”

 

Wesley flushes red, clearly embarrassed about his series of unfortunate events.

 

“He got grazed during sword practice. On his leg.” Piper points out a trail of blood running down the boys calf. “It doesn’t look too deep, but it’s long. Just needs to be patched up.”

 

Noelle nods, and motions for them to follow her. She leads them to an open cot, and tells Wesley to sit and prop his leg up.

 

“Give me a minute, I’ll go get Will,” she tells them. “Try not to bleed everywhere—I’m on cleaning duty tonight. Thanks!”

 

Then she’s gone. Piper looks down at Wesley, who makes sheepish eye contact with her. Piper smiles reassuringly.

 

“Hopefully the last injury of the summer, yeah?”

 

His expression twists in embarrassment. “Sorry,” he croaks.

 

“Don’t be sorry!” says Piper. “I just hate seeing you hurt so often.”

 

Last weekend was second degree burns on his hand from climbing the lava rock wall. The weekend before, Wesley sprained his ankle in the most chaotic game of capture the flag yet, the campers getting more rough and unruly as they neared the end of summer.

 

Piper should’ve known from the start of camp Wesley would have bad luck. The second week of summer he nearly drowned during a canoe race, his teams boat flipping over and tossing them into the lake. If Piper had known he couldn’t swim, she wouldn’t have let him go _canoe_ racing. Thank gods for Percy being their designated lifeguard.

 

Will appears then, dressed in blue scrubs and face adorned with a bright, sunshiny grin.

 

“Hey, Wesley! Back to see me so soon?” He pulls up a rolling stool and sits, leveling himself with Wesley’s injured leg. As he inspects the wound, he asks, “What happened?”

 

Piper explains in the same way she did for Noelle. Will nods in understanding.

 

“Was Nico the instructor?”

 

Wesley nods.

 

Will rolls his eyes, smiling fondly. “I told him some of those maneuvers were too advanced for that age group. I mean, they’re close to our age but not everyone has Nico’s experience.”

 

Piper wears a smile of her own. She didn’t know much about Will and Nico’s relationship—she’d only found out about it at the start of camp this summer. Apparently, they’ve been a thing since winter break.

 

She sees them together around camp sometimes. They’re cute. And she’s never seen Nico smile so much. It’s still an almost surreal thing to see, but it warms her heart nonetheless.

 

“Alright, it doesn’t look too deep. No stitches. We’ll clean and patch this up and then get you some ambrosia for scarring,” says Will. He calls out, “Aidan!”

 

“Coming!” a voice in the back of the infirmary responds. Beside her, Piper can see Wesley tense up. She frowns.

 

She nudges his shoulder. “Does it hurt badly?”

 

He bites his bottom lip, shaking his head no. Piper stares at her brother unsurely, her frown deepening.

 

“Yeah?” The curtain surrounding the cot is pulled back, and a boy pokes his head in. His eyes land on Piper, and then Wesley, and he immediately breaks out into a grin. “Oh, hi Wesley!”

 

Wesley smiles stiffly, lifting up his hand in an awkward wave. “Hi, Aidan.”

 

The boy, Piper notices, is younger, closer to Will and Wesleys age. Besides the light brown hair, his features are similar to that of Will’s: blue eyes, a smattering of freckles on his face, and a bright, sunshine grin. Like most infirmary workers, he was probably one of Will’s siblings.

 

Aidan notices Wesley’s hurt leg and frowns. “Oh wow, what happened?”

 

Wesley averts his gaze, ducking his head down sheepishly. For the first time, he speaks for himself. “Uh—sparring practice.”

 

Will turns to his brother. “Minor laceration.”

 

“So no stitches?”

 

“No. That’s what _minor_ means, Aidan.”

 

“Okay, geez, I’m just making sure.” The boy defends himself. “Anything else?”

 

“Square of ambrosia. Thanks.”

 

“Okay.” With that, Aidan draws the curtain closed.

 

Will shakes his head. “Apollo kids are required to start working in the infirmary once they turn thirteen. Aidan’s our newest apprentice.”

 

“Oh,” says Piper. “How’s that going?”

 

“Good! Mostly. . . I mean, it’s been almost two months. He hasn’t dropped an instrument tray in like a week.”

 

A perfectly timed crash of metal clanging onto the floor comes from the back of the infirmary. “Sorry!” Aidan’s voice calls out. Piper can hear Noelle swearing.

 

Will exhales deeply. “It’s been a long summer.”

 

Piper empathizes with Will. He wasn’t just head of the infirmary, he was head counselor of Apollo too. She admires how he always manages to keep a level head with double the responsibilities.

 

Aidan returns with the requested supplies on a medical tray and, under Will’s intense stare, _extra carefully_ places it upon the rolling stand. Will thanks him and quickly dismisses him.

 

The brown haired boy bids Piper and her brother goodbye. “Bye, Wesley. Feel better!”

 

Piper watches her brother give a timid wave, the tips of his ears turning pink. And well, that’s interesting.

 

Will patches Wesley up in no time, as promised. He hands Wesley the square of ambrosia and leaves them with medical advice.

 

“You’re good to go! Not too much exertion on your leg for a few days, Wesley, okay?”

 

Wesley nods, nibbling on the corner of the ambrosia.

 

Piper smiles gratefully. “Thanks, Will.”

 

“Course, Piper. It’s my job. See you guys around!”

 

As they make their way out of the infirmary, Piper catches Wesley turning his head back, as if he were looking for something. Or someone.

 

“What is it?”

 

His head snaps back around. “What?”

 

Piper suppresses the urge to knowingly smirk. “Did you have a question for Will or something?”

 

He shakes his head, cheeks ablaze. He stuffs the rest of the ambrosia square in his mouth and chews slowly.

 

Piper takes pity on her brother and changes the subject. “What does ambrosia taste like for you?”

 

Wesley swallows the ambrosia, and gives a small smile. “My nana’s macaroni and cheese.”

 

Piper mirrors his smile. “For me it’s my dad’s black bean soup.”

 

“Sounds good.”

 

“It is,” she says. “Wish I could have some right now. But we’ll have to settle for whatever’s on the CHB menu tonight. C’mon, dinner’s about to start.”

 

-

 

It’s tacos on the CHB menu tonight. At least, that’s the main course. There’s no meat substitute for Piper, so she settles for a bowl of fruit and some bread and mentally prepares herself for the next hour of dinner with her siblings.

 

“You’re a _weirdo_.”

 

“Says _you_.”

 

“You’re literally eating a taco with a knife and fork you _psychopath_ ,” Eli insists, gesturing to Friya’s silverware in bewilderment. “Who does that!”

 

“I just gave myself a manicure.” Friya emphasizes this by flicking him off with her black, coffin shaped acrylic. “Can’t get my nails greasy and gross.”

 

“It could be worse,” says Jeremiah. “She could’ve gotten a hard shell.”

 

“It’s the principle of the thing, man. Half of our cabin is Latinx, she’s a _disgrace_.”

 

“ _Your face is a disgrace_.”

 

“That’s all you’re eating?” Mitchell’s inquiry pulls Pipers attention from their bickering siblings. He points at her sad looking bowl of fruit, confused and slightly concerned.

 

“Guess so,” says Piper, picking up a grape and popping it into her mouth. “No meat substitute.”

 

“You should really bring that to Chiron’s attention.”

 

“Mm. Yeah, guess so,” she says again. It’s no big deal. She was used to it. Of all the schools she’s attended in her life, not one of them had great vegetarian alternatives. Later she’ll stop by the Hermes Cabin after dinner and buy snacks from the Stolls or something.

 

“How much do you know about Wesley?” Piper suddenly asks.

 

Mitchell’s furrows his eyebrows. “Um. He’s the quietest member of our cabin and for that I totally respect him.”

 

Piper laughs. “I’m asking because I took him to the infirmary today, and well,“ she lowers her voice, “I think he has a crush on someone.”

 

Mitchell’s eyebrows raise in interest, but before he can get a word out in response another voice interrupts.

 

“You mean Aidan?” says Rosie, looking at Piper for confirmation.

 

Ah, Rosie, or as many of the Aphrodite kids so rightfully nicknamed her, _Nosy._

 

She just… had a keen ear for conversations that weren’t meant to be overheard.

 

“Yeah. You know?”

 

Rosie nods enthusiastically, taking a bite out of her taco.

 

“Who’s Aidan?” asks Mitchell.

 

“Um, from the Apollo cabin?” Rosie informs him, as if it was obvious.

 

“Oh, yeah,” Mitchell says, though his face doesn’t show any trace of recognition.

 

“Yeah, he’s had a thing for him since like the second week of camp. Anita and I have been trying to help him work up the courage to ask him out, but literally everyone else is advising him not too because Aphrodite and Apollo kids are rarely a match made in Olympus—”

 

“Wait, you _all_ know?” Piper says incredulously.

 

“I didn’t know,” says Mitchell.

 

Rosie rolls her eyes. “Yeah. We purposefully didn’t tell you. Took you guys long enough to catch on.”

 

Piper tries not to feel offended. “Why didn’t anyone tell us?”

 

“Wesley didn’t want it to be a big thing. He’s kind of a low-key person. He thought if the head counselors knew then you guys would do the head-counselor thing and try to give head-counselor advice or whatever.”

 

Well, _yeah,_ that’s what they’re supposed to do. That’s what head-counselors are trained to do, as cringey and embarrassing as it seems. It’s not like Piper _enjoyed_ having to talk to her siblings about awkward teenage things. No one ever gave _her_ those talks when she was younger, aside from health class in school. The first few weeks of camp she was constantly going to Annabeth for advice about how to give her siblings _advice_.

 

“I mean. . .” Piper started, unsure of what to say. She looks down the length of the table at Wesley, whose plate is pushed aside to make room for the leather journal he’s currently writing in. “If he doesn’t want us to say anything. . . I guess we won’t?”

 

“Great!” Rosie cheers. “Don’t worry. Anita and I have it all under control.”

 

And Piper really doubts that, but it’s not like whatever she would’ve came up with would have been any better.

 

She’s lost her appetite completely now. She pushes the bowl of fruit aside and waits for dinner to be over.

 

-

 

“What if one day Zeus gets tired of us desecrating his cabin and just _smites_ us? Like, _zaps_ us into oblivion like we’re mosquitoes and he has one of those electric fly swatter things.”

 

Once Leo’s begun to suggest the most random shit, Piper knows they’ve been up on this roof for far too long.

 

Piper snorts. “We’re hardly desecrating it.”

 

“I dunno Pipes. Latino and Native American demigods sneaking on the roof of his cabin for _fun_? In _this_ economy? Sounds like sacrilege to me.”

 

Piper presses her hands against her mouth to muffle the laughter bubbling from her chest. Leo has a talent for being funny at the worst possible times. Back at Wilderness School, Piper was always getting detention for inappropriately laughing at Leo the entirety of class. Of course, he’d get stuck in detention with her and the cycle would just continue.

 

She’s running on three, maybe four hours of sleep. She’d had nightmares the night before, but didn’t want to cancel coming to the rooftop tonight. So right now, her sleep deprivation is making everything ten times more hilarious.

 

Piper brushes away a tear from laughing so hard. “I think we’re fine. Just don’t say his name so boldly.”

 

If Zeus wanted to smite them for sitting on the roof of his otherwise abandoned cabin all night, Piper’s sure he would’ve done it by now. They’ve been doing this all summer.

 

“Oh, are we back to the ‘names have power’ nonsense everyone was trying to drill into us when we got here? What’s up with that? The amount of times I've used _Hera_ and _vieja loca_ in the same sentence—“

 

“Shh!” Piper goes to cover his mouth this time. He was really pushing their luck right now. “Quiet. You be.”

 

Leo bats her hand away. “Alright, Master Yoda. I’m just saying, I don’t think the people upstairs care that much.”

 

Perhaps not, Piper thinks. It’s tricky trying to figure out what would upset the gods. The pettiest thing could set them off. Pipers siblings insist that Aphrodite would disown a child of hers for voluntarily wearing a pair of crocs.

 

“You don’t have to care about anything when you’re an immortal deity. Must be nice,” Leo mutters, pulling his legs up and resting against his knees. His lighthearted mood has quickly turned sour. Piper raises an eyebrow, but he says nothing else. She wonders what’s upsetting him, but decides not to prod.

 

She allows for them to sit in silence for a while, but it feels wrong and uncomfortable. It isn’t usually like this when she’s with Leo. She doesn’t like it. They tell each other everything.

 

“Hey,” she says softly. Leo stares ahead of him, chin still on his knees. “What’s wrong?”

 

He sighs, and says, “Summer’s over in a few weeks.”

 

Yeah. Piper is relieved, and yet slightly dreading it. She wouldn’t have to worry about being responsible for so many kids anymore, but she would definitely miss her siblings. And Leo, of course. She’d miss Leo so much.

 

She’s not sure what to expect when she leaves camp. She plans on finishing her last year of high school in Oklahoma and graduating, but she’s not entirely sure what would come after that. College, maybe?

 

A few years ago if someone had asked, she knew exactly what she would be doing. Going to school in New Rome with Jason, living somewhat happily ever after. But she realized that what she wanted wasn’t realistic, and that what she had never felt…genuine.

 

The thought of it is almost pathetically funny. She feels a twinge in her gut thinking about it. Things have changed so much in a year.

 

“Yeah?” Piper encourages him to continue.

 

“. . .and I think I’m staying here.”

 

Piper’s confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Like,” he sits up then, rubbing at the space between his eyebrows—something he does when he’s stressed about something, Piper’s come to learn over the years. “I think I want to be a year-rounder.”

 

And. . . _Woah._ She wasn’t expecting that. Leo had been living at the Waystation in the couple of months before camp started. He always talked about how much he loved being there with that slightly crazed gleam in his eyes. Why wasn’t he going back?

 

“What about Indiana?”

 

Leo shrugs, running a hand through his hair, leaving the curls in an unruly state. He doesn’t try to explain himself.

 

“But you love the Waystation,” Piper states.

 

He wears a small smile. “That’s true.”

 

Piper doesn’t understand. Leo had never mentioned wanting to stay at camp before. The longest he ever stayed at camp was between finishing Hera’s quest the winter they first arrived and the summer they left to fulfill the Prophecy of Seven. But there really was no other option, was there?

 

“Is...is this about Calypso? Are you trying to avoid her?”

 

“Gods, no, Pipes. I mean, it would be a little awkward, but that’s not why—“

 

“Then why?”

 

He sighs frustratedly. “Pipes, the Waystation is so dope. It has everything, and I mean _everything_ that a loser obsessed with mechanics and engineering could want. Not to mention Emmie and Jo are the nicest women I’ve ever met and I wish I had mother figures like them in the shitty ass foster homes I got put into.

 

“But. . . I feel like I should stay here. Nyssa was telling me about how the younger campers that are year-rounders get kind of sad when summer’s over because most of camp and our cabin are gone and they don’t have a home outside of camp. And I of all people know what that’s like, so. . .”

 

He shrugs again, trailing off of his explanation. Piper. . . doesn’t know what to say. She goes to tell him this, but Leo speaks up before she can.

 

“And I know I _just_ said it wasn’t about Calypso. But I kind of lied. She should be able to find peace with herself without having to constantly see me at Waystation, I think. She probably, like, hates me kind of. So, it’s better this way.”

 

Piper does nothing but blink at him.

 

“Plus, I’m the only one who can open Bunker 9, so that’d be a waste,” He jokes sheepishly.

 

Typical Leo Valdez fashion. Adding the gods damn joke to make this seem less serious than it is. Piper is suddenly _very_ annoyed.

 

“ _Seriously_?”

 

“Uh, yeah? I’m the only Hephaestus kid with pyrokinesis that I know of.”

 

“Are you kidding me?”

 

“. . .Uh?“

 

“You are so stubbornly, stupidly self-sacrificial! What the fuck! Why can’t you let yourself be happy for once without giving a fuck about everyone else?”

 

Leo is taken aback by her outburst. “Piper, are you—are you scolding me for being _considerate_?”

 

“You’re being considerate to everyone but yourself. I fucking hate that. I hate that so much.”

 

Leo seems affronted, yet he wears an amused smile, which just irritates Piper even more.

 

“You drop a lot of F bombs when you’re mad. Also, I don’t understand why you’re mad.”

 

“Because!” Piper exclaims, not giving the volume of her voice a second thought. “I’ve never seen you happier than when you talk about having a home at Waystation and you’re giving that up. _Gods_ , I don’t understand.”

 

“Piper,” he says softly. “It’s okay. I have a home here too. To me, home isn’t really a place, you know? It’s a sense of belonging. And I didn’t really have that for a long time, but now I do. Here, _and_ in Indiana. But I think Camp Half-Blood is where I truly want to be right now.”

 

And—wow. Piper doesn’t expect that from him. It kind of knocks the wind out of her.

 

“What would you even do here with most of the camp gone?” she argues weakly.

 

Camp during the school year is obviously going to be a quieter, less exciting experience than summer at Camp-Half Blood. Leo hates being underwhelmed. What did the remaining campers do with more than half the camp gone?

 

He smiles. “I know it doesn’t seem like there’ll be much to do, but it’s fine! I’m gonna spend time with Nyssa and Harley and Jacqueline and the rest of my siblings who are year rounders. This summer has made me realize that they’re as close to a real family as I have and I don’t want to take that for granted.”

 

Piper’s eyes burn and her throat wells up.

 

“Harley’s really excited. He has this really dope invention in mind that he wants me to help him with. He says it will change Camp Half-Blood as we know it,” Leo laughs fondly. “I’m not allowed to tell you what it is though. He’s sworn me to secrecy. Y’know, for an eight year old, he sure knows a lot about intellectual property theft.”

 

Piper laughs wetly, a few tears escaping her eyes. She is so upset with him. But how could she if this is what he wants? To be there for his siblings, to give Calypso her space, to work on improving the camp. Camp-Half Blood is where he wants to find his purpose. She couldn’t be mad at him for that.

 

Perhaps the anger she feels is misplaced. He’s just so self-sacrificial sometimes. It…scares her.

 

“Wow,” says Piper, wiping at her face. “Here I am, relieved about not having to be counselor to my siblings once summer’s over, and you’re ditching Waystation to stay here and be with yours. I’m the shittiest person ever.”

 

“Hey!” Leo chides her. “You’re not. Would a shitty person curse her best friend on a rooftop out in the middle of the night because she just wants them to be happy?”

 

“I do,” Piper affirms. “I do just want you to be happy. You of all people deserve to be happy.”

 

Leo gives a small smile, albeit a little sad. “You too. _You_ of all people deserve to be happy.”

 

Pipers tears come faster now, like a breaking dam. She nods in agreement.

 

“Yeah,” she sniffs.

 

She just wants to be happy.

 

“Leo,” she whispers. “I want to be happy. I thought summer would help. It’s almost over and it still hurts.”

 

Leo frowns. “C’mere Piper.”

 

She doesn’t have to say anything else or explain herself. Leo knows.

 

He engulfs her into a hug, and immediately she feels a bit better. Leo gave the best hugs that never failed to make her feel warm. It’s comforting. She almost wants to never let go.

 

She feels like she’s regressing. Like all the progress she’s made the past six months means nothing. The grief, the anger, the acceptance she thought she was finally, finally approaching.

 

She allows herself to cry for a few minutes. It helps. She hears Leo sniffling into her shoulder and feels guilt and grief wash over her again. She keeps ruining Wednesday nights.

 

“Why do I keep crying on this fucking roof?”

 

Leo laughs wetly into her neck. He pulls away, face streaked with tears. “I dunno Pipes, but it’s starting to become contagious. You’ve infected me with your emotions.”

 

She giggles, wiping her face and reaching out to do the same for Leo. She then dries her fingers of their tears in the front of his shirt. He rolls his eyes.

 

“I’m your human snot rag, huh?”

 

She giggles harder, nodding enthusiastically. “That’s what best friends are for,” she sings.

 

Leo rolls his eyes again. “Typical.” He suddenly pouts. “Are you still mad at me?”

 

“Mm. Kinda.”

 

“ _Piper_ ,” he whines. “We just had a bonding moment. There’s no room for anger anymore.”

 

“Stop being so nice to everybody except yourself and maybe I’ll consider not being angry.”

 

He scoffs. “Whatever. You love me too much to stay mad at me.”

 

She can’t hold back her grin. Yeah, maybe he’s right.

**Author's Note:**

> i am the literal worst at proofreading, i have zero patience, sorry if there are typos lmao
> 
> visit me on [tumblr](http://imperialpercy.tumblr.com/)


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